Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 188 Difficult Decision

On May 10, Ragnar convened the commanders of all departments to discuss the next steps.

After this resounding victory, no one clamored to go to Flanders anymore; instead, they unanimously decided to head straight to Paris and extort a hefty sum from "Bald" Charlie.

Having reached a consensus, they headed south along the road, where they were intercepted by enemy forces in Amiens.

When persuasion to surrender failed, Ragnar put Vig in charge of the siege. Vig gathered ships to build a pontoon bridge and sent troops to circle around to the south bank of the Somme, completely surrounding the town.

Ragnar: "How long will it take?"

Vig: "It's a bit of a problem. Caesar named this place 'Samarobriva' in the Gallic Wars, and then the Romans built a lot of buildings here, including city walls, libraries, arenas, and public baths. In the fifth century AD, the Franks occupied the city and renamed it Ambianolum, and later it was called 'Amiens'."

After rambling on for a while, Vig said that Amiens is a city left over from the Roman era, and he needed to give himself at least a month.

“Take your time to handle this. I’ll go first. West Falak is a powerful nation. If we drag this out any longer, ‘Bald’ Charles will be able to amass another massive army.”

Ragnar decided to leave Vigé behind to besiege Paris, while he himself led the remaining 13,000 men (including Eric Jr.'s reinforcements) straight to Paris.

Watching the main force depart, Vig stretched and ordered his troops to cut down trees and build siege equipment, using the safest method to besiege Amiens.

To weaken the defenders' morale, Vig instructed the archers on both banks of the Somme to let the boats fleeing the city pass and focus on shooting at the reinforcements entering the city.

It was said that the siege commander was the Serpent of the North, and the defending troops were frightened before the battle even began, with ships gradually fleeing under cover of night.

Furthermore, Vig opened a loophole in the south of the city, allowing commoners to flee with their personal belongings. Twenty days passed in this manner, and the catapults outside the city were gradually completed. The Count of Amiens, filled with despair, fled by boat on a dark and stormy night, leaving behind a city of Amiens where most of the inhabitants had fled.

On June 1, the garrison selected envoys to go out of the city to negotiate. Vig allowed them to leave with their families and property, and even to take weapons and shields for self-defense.

In the afternoon, all the garrison withdrew from Amiens, and Vig sent men into the city to take over the defenses. They found the city almost completely emptied. The Earl took silver and cloth by ship, and the garrison and civilians also took their belongings, leaving behind only three hundred sets of armor, more than two hundred warhorses, and mountains of grain in the storehouses.

After taking stock of the supplies, Ulf complained under his breath, "There's too little stuff; it's like we've worked for nothing."

Vig tossed the ledger to Seibert. "I remember you and those Swedish nobles were quite busy, raiding nearby lords' estates multiple times, but you didn't manage to steal any spoils?"

Early medieval productivity was low, and most barons and knights lived in wooden houses, lacking the funds to build stone fortresses. These days, Ulf and the Swedish raiders had captured fifteen manors, reaping considerable spoils, and now they were complaining to Vig, clearly pushing their luck.

Vig raised his voice, "His Majesty is urging me to go to Paris as soon as possible. Since you want more spoils of war, no problem. I will recommend you as the first wave of attacking forces. Once we enter Paris, you will naturally receive your share of the benefits."

Leaving three hundred men to take over the defenses, Vig led five thousand men south along the road. On the way, Ulf secretly found him.

"Well, I think the attack on Paris is something we can discuss further."

Now that Ulf was getting old, he only wanted to take advantage of the situation and leave the task of storming Paris to the younger generation or the Swedish raiders. After Ulf left, Swedish nobles such as Lexal gradually entered Vig's camp. They had experienced the bloody battle outside Bettina and were deeply impressed by the fighting power of the elite French army. If they were to be the first wave of attacking troops, the raiders, lacking armor, would only serve as expendable resources.

After everyone had dispersed, Leif, who was quietly waiting in the corner of the tent, asked, "Uncle, did you actually not intend for them to seize the city first? You were just trying to scare them?"

Vig's eyes showed satisfaction, pleased with his nephew's observational skills. "Yes, Ulf is the type to take things easy, and Lexar and the others aren't exactly ruthless characters. There's no need to be overly accommodating to them."

Three days later, Vig arrived at the banks of the Seine.

Currently, the Viking army has captured the bridgeheads on both sides of the strait, but the Iris flag still flies over Île de la Cité, and thousands of French troops are stationed on the island. The wooden bridge connecting the two sides has been burned down, making subsequent attacks extremely difficult.

Upon entering the bridgehead on the north bank, Vig met a worried-looking Ragnar and the nobles.

"What happened?"

Ivar gave a helpless look. "A few days ago, when we captured the bridgehead, we interrogated the prisoners and heard that Charles had already fled with his family and property. The nobles and merchants also left one after another, leaving only a loyal earl and thousands of soldiers to guard the island of Cité. Father sent prisoners to persuade them to surrender, but the garrison was very determined and vowed to hold out until the last moment."

From Vig's perspective, the island of Cité now has ten-meter-high stone walls, and a rash attack would result in too many casualties. The only option was to adopt a siege strategy, while building catapults on both sides of the island to continuously hurle stones and oil canisters until the defenders surrendered.

Seeing the other person's troubled expression, Ivar let out a long sigh, "Even you can't do anything about it, so the Paris project will have to be put on hold for now."

At this moment, the command is facing a difficult choice—what is the next step?
Ragnar originally intended to use the same trick again, forcing Charles to pay a huge sum of money to help the Kingdom of Britain overcome its financial crisis. However, he did not expect that the man would rather run away and use a lose-lose situation to wear down the pagan army.

Today, the Seine estuary is controlled by the Havre fortress, preventing fleets from going upstream. Reinforcements can only be transported from Calais to the outskirts of Paris by land, a process with too much risk and loss to sustain in the long term.

Deeply entangled in a predicament, Ragnar worried that if the delay went on too long, it would attract interference from the Middle and East Francia. After a moment's thought, he managed to come up with a plan.

“Vigg, ​​you will lead your five thousand men to attack the west and incite a rebellion in Brittany. I will lead the main force to roam the surrounding areas, looking for ‘Bald’ Charles. If Charles remains in hiding, you will continue south and incite a rebellion in the southern region of Aquitaine.”

Vig responded: "The inhabitants of Brittany are called Britons, who come from Britain and are more closely related to the Welsh. They are not the same ethnic group as the Franks, so it is easy for them to incite rebellion."

However, the inhabitants of Aquitaine are Frankish, sharing the same culture and religion as the king, and have always been hostile to the Vikings. Even though they despise the rule of Charles the Bald, they will not cooperate with us.

Ragnar's patience was wearing thin. He scratched his head in frustration. "No matter what, you need to deal with Brittany first. The bigger the commotion, the more likely Charlie is to take the initiative to fight."

"As ordered."

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(End of this chapter)